In the Memory You'll Find Me
by Qu33rzi
Summary: Human...Our fight is not over. It is a battle that can only be fought by you and me and until I have conquered your planet and defeated you, you must stay alive. That's all there is to it. ZADR fic.
1. The World is an Illusion

**Written with Sydia. ZADR fic, you don't like, don't read. This is our first writing expedition into ZADR territory..let's hope we make it out alive!**

**Please enjoy and remember, the characters aren't ours, they belong to whatever company owns them and to JV with the ill-prone belly.**

**Also, this story will start in the middle. I promise it'll begin to make sense.**

**P.S. Beginnings suck. THEY ARE SO DAMN HARD TO WRITE! Stick with us for a few paragraphs, I promise it gets better.**

**P.P.S. ****People who put me on Author Alert- I am so sorry, I do plan to rewrite and finish my MTNN fics, but Sydia roped me into this.**

* * *

_Chaos. _

_Buildings rip from pavement, cars float up, up, up, and screams fill the air._

_The two lovers rise, spinning wildly out of control, but all the while world-weary golden eyes stare into red, hands holding tightly to the other as the world around them collapses. _

_The dying light reflects off of a strangely familiar pair of glasses, drawing nearer and nearer-_

_'And kiss the one you love…with reckless abandonment…'_

_So soft, warm and familiar, are the mock-lekku that brushes his own as are the smooth lips that touch his-_

Zim fell out of his chair and gasped. What _was_ that? INVADERS DID NOT DO THOSE SORT OF THINGS-! He shook his head wildly, burning with anger. How many times had he had that dream now? Zim pulled himself up, scowling, and counted off to himself on his claws. One, two, three, four, five, six - almost every day out of this solar cycle!

He tapped the desk impatiently. This was becoming serious. Something must have become faulty with the rest-cycle mode on his PAK. That was the only reasonable explanation. Yes, of course that was it. Something faulty with the rest-cycle mode, not him. He didn't even _recognize_ that strange planet that was always in his visual sleep-cycle disturbances, a dreary back-water-ish hodgepodge planet of horrible technology and concrete. For sure, he had NEVER had the misfortune to step foot on such a _filthy _world.

And even worse were the filthy inhabitants of that filthy world. Or one in particular. Zim straightened up, and banged the desk impatiently. Flashes, echoes, that was all his strangely vivid visual sleep-cycle disturbances ever gave him. Short sharp images of - something. He closed his eyes for a moment, attempting to remember and opened them, moments later, to find strange liquid dripping continuously from his eyes.

WHAT WAS THIS? Zim rubbed his eyes hurriedly and blinked the liquid out. He HATED how these VISUAL SLEEP DISTURBANCES affected HIM. Every time he entered a sleep cycle, HORRIBLE visual sleep disturbances (AND THAT WAS ALL THEY WERE, because they certainly couldn't be -ugh, he hated to even think the word- dreams) were waiting for him, giving him such strange feelings within his squeedily-spooch, and leaving him with such a strange feeling of_ emptiness_ when he awoke- NO THAT WASN'T THE CASE! Something that didn't exist on a planet he never visited COULDN'T AFFECT HIM! He shook his head furiously, back and forth.

Besides, if ZIM ever went to SUCH A DISGUSTING PLACE, he'd pave it over and turn it into a parking lot planet! He clicked his claws distastefully. Why was he occupying himself with this nonsense again?

And on top of that bit of nonsense, he, the ALMIGHTY ELITE IRKEN INVADER ZIM would NEVER ALLOW such a DISGUSTING STINK-BEAST's mouthy orifices to TOUCH HIS OWN-

Hold on, stink-beast? Holy Irk, where had that word even come from? Zim shook his head spastically from side to side. He had never used that insult before! Yet, it floated to the top of his consciousness so easily whenever he pictured those strange burnt gold eyes-

In a rage, Zim picked up his desk using his PAK legs and threw it at the wall with a resounding crash. The visual sleep cycle disturbances (AND THAT WAS ALL THEY WERE SINCE HE WAS AN IRKEN INVADER and IRKEN INVADERS MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT DREAM) were getting worse. Now they were affecting him while he was awake!

"El-elite Irke-e-n Invad-der Zi-im, conq-ue-rer of the Kie-fv sir?" stammered out a young service drone, who had cautiously opened the door to check on his master "I-s a-anything wr-rong?"

Zim glared viciously at the service drone, maroon eyes narrowing as he contemplated launching the service drone out of the atmosphere. No, not enough of a reason. If he launched another one, that'd make five this week and for sure, the Tallest would not enjoy such wastefulness. He sighed. The room with a moozek would have to do.

He had never quite understood the inspiration that led to him to creating this new form of punishment, now legendary and feared throughout the empire, sending Irkens who annoyed him to a large white room with nothing in it but a strange four-legged brown creature with horns on it's head. To be sure, it was terrible punishment, one that the mere mention of made all other Irkens tremble, but it never was truly enough to satisfy him. He always felt like he was sending the wrong person ther-

WHAT WAS HE SAYING? For Tallest' sake, ANY person that he sent there DESERVED it because they had incurred HIS WRATH. But yet, he could never shake the feeling that the punishment was fitting only for one being, one with burnt golden eyes and soft, soft li-

SMASH! The wall groaned and then broke under Zim's fist. Finally. Something was working the way it was supposed to. Zim laughed delightedly, the damage satisfying him for the moment. He withdrew his hand and turned to face the service drone. Claw hovering over the trapdoor button located on his handy remote, Zim motioned the service drone forward, his mouth twisting into a demonic zippered grin.

"Yes? What is it that you want with the ALMIGHTY ZIIIM?" The unfortunate service drone cowered under Zim's grin, staring at the floor.

"Ah, sir...I-I...that is.." Inwardly, Zim scoffed. The service drone _should_ have run while he was occupied with the wall. That was what any intelligent Irken would have done in his place. But then again, there are reasons why most short Irkens are service drones. They're inferior to elite Irkens, and therefore less intelligent. Obviously.

"Wrong answer inferior-shorter!" Zim called out with a gleam in his eyes. "Goodbye." He punched the button and simultaneously, a trapdoor opened below the Irken service drone, carrying him through many long tubes and into the dreaded room with a moozek.

A long scream echoed from the trapdoor before it finally slid shut with an ominous snap. Zim turned and exited his living quarters, humming happily. Making service drones scream in terror was always a fun way to start the day.

"I feel good about how today went." He said to himself smiling. But then he remembered. He had a job to do. Conquered planets couldn't run_ themselves_ after all. "GAR!" Zim shouted. Where in the name of the Tallest was that infuriating SIR unit? "GIR, IF YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING THE SCARY MONKEY SHOW AGAIN, I'M TELLING YOU-" His SIR unit appeared promptly, glowing with _red _eyes- how strange.. Holy Irk! Had they always been that color? Hadn't they been a different color? A completely different one...teal, wasn't it? And hadn't his SIR unit had a mouth? Yes...a large mouth in which he stuffed all sorts of things a SIR unit shouldn't be able to eat..

"Sir, I believe you were mistaken!" His SIR unit said in an oddly wrong deep voice.

Wait, what?

Zim snapped out of his contemplation and glared at the SIR unit.

"What are you talking about, GAR? THE MIGHTY ZIM IS NEVER MISTAKEN!"

"But you were, Sir."

"NEVER!"

"Approximately one minute and thirty-two seconds ago, Sir-"

"LIES!"

"My name is GAR, not GIR, Sir!"

"ZIIIM DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES!"

"And I do not watch the show of the terrifying monkey, Sir!" GAR saluted Zim.

Zim opened his mouth to scream yet another "LIES!" but was then sidetracked by what GAR had said. His SIR unit didn't watch the Scary Monkey Show? But GIR, no that wasn't right.. (why did he keep getting the name wrong?)..GAR loved that show! Wait...Zim eyed his SIR unit suspiciously. Why would any SIR unit of his watch 'the Scary Monkey Show', instead of following his loyal master's orders?

With a shock, Zim realized that he didn't even know what a 'monkey' was. His PAK certainly didn't know. Where had that word come from? And what in the name of Irk had possessed Zim to mention such a thing? 'Scary Monkey Show'... Where had he heard that before? He must have somewhere...He certainly would have never come up with something so ridiculous on his own. After all, what was more stupid than a monkey scowling at the screen- Wait..

How did Zim know what the 'Scary Monkey Show' was if he didn't even know what a monkey was?

But he _did _know what a monkey was. And since his PAK still couldn't provide any information on the subject..How had Zim known?

He shook his head, tried to make sense of it all and ultimately failed. He glanced over at his SIR unit who was standing there. With his strangely wrong RED eyes, watching him.

With no logical reasoning to give, Zim simply sneered at his SIR unit and said "Your legs are STUPID!"

GAR bent his head and saluted his master once again. "It has been noted, Sir!"

Zim blinked at his SIR unit. GIR was being this cooperative? No, wait, Zim frowned, his SIR unit's name was GAR not GIR. And it shouldn't have been a surprise that the SIR unit was cooperative since it was built to serve the MIGHTY ZIIIM AFTER ALL! Zim cackled wildly and nodded, satisfied with himself. Of COURSE! Why was he being so silly, occupying himself with this ridiculous nonsense? HE, THE ALMIGHTY ZIIIM, had a conquered planet to rule! And a conquered people to humiliate and run HORRIBLE experiments on!

He snapped his fingers dramatically. "GAR," he said, over-emphasizing his SIR unit's name, "TAKE ME TO THE LAB! I WISH to run some DELIGHTFULLY HORRIBLE experiments on the natives, the orange-furred and clammy Kievf!"

"RIGHT AWAY, MY MASTER!" The SIR unit transformed and Zim climbed aboard, cackling wildly all the while ignoring the strange wrongness of it all and the cold numbness that crept inside him with every breath.

* * *

**Weeks later**

He fought the visual sleep disturbances, tooth and claw, refusing to go into sleep mode.

Not that _that_ plan lasted long. No. Because then the visual disturbances simply followed him into consciousness.

Every moment now was a battlefield, another moment of him being assaulted and barraged by moments, whispers, images -of another reality-

Which made no sense, of course. Zim had only ever known this one.

The one where he was an Elite Irken Invader who had easily conquered the Kievf, a race of orange-haired clammy creatures, and had been awarded the highest medals by the Tallest themselves, Miyuki and Spork.

The one where his SIR unit was capable. Not a fool. Not a piece of junk. Not dead. And had RED eyes.

The one where he was praised. Honored.

But this reality was the real one so in the end it didn't matter. No.

Of course not.

But the ones, the images and moments that haunted him the most- were the ones with a certain big-headed human and himself...

"_Zim. I can't live without you."_

_Earnest eyes, golden and world-weary, stare into his.._

_He hated this. This weakening within himself, how quickly his former long-time enemy could crumble his resolve._

_Silence. Leave me in peace. _

_He was breaking into pieces, slowly, every wall crumbling.._

_Cautious and slow, arms wrap around him, warm and safe-_

_"No." _

_"Zim."_

_He feels himself shattering, all the walls he's put up to hide crumbling, he's exposed, he's weak_

'I love you.'

He jumped up, squeedily-spooch thumping hard, eyes widening, looking around.

Nothing. Zim closed his eyes and opened them again, half expecting a pair of foolishly earnest golden eyes to meet his.

Nothing. Zim laughed nervously to himself, checking behind him. Why was he being so stupid, so immature like a smeet? It wasn't real. Any of it, his visual sleep interruptions... Just- pure and utter dookie. That was it.

Zim raised a claw to his head for a moment, aware of a throbbing insistent pain in his skull and lowered it, distracted by an image at his desk, a shiny metal surface which reflected himself. Zim. Elite. Irken. Invader.

Certainly not someone who acted like an immature smeet, or worse, a defect.

Certainly not someone who was haunted by moments of another life.

Certainly not someone who felt like he was empty. Numb. Like there was a void. No.

Zim snapped up, eyes wild. It was because he had nothing to do! Yes, that was it, that HAD to be it, all this free time, it was getting to Zim's head, that was all! Yes!

And he could fix that, he could, just walk over to the stink-creature's house and annoy him..

Yes, that would fix the boredom-!

But, no it wouldn't. Because i_the stink-creature/i_ didn't exist. And neither did that wretched filthy planet, or any of the other wretched filthy creatures on it or the Stupid Monkey Show or an idiotic SIR unit named GIR. Zim closed his eyes again and gritted his teeth.

He hated how the visual sleep disturbances affected him. Making him think that that was real and this was not. How stoopid. And lately he hadn't even gone into sleep mode. The...-how did he term it?-hallucinations had just swept over him.

Zim shuddered. Was it possible something was wrong with his PAK?

No... It couldn't be. ZIM WAS NOT A DEFECT! Zim was PERFECT and his PAK was PERFECT and his life was PERFECT!

Zim got up with a forced grin, grabbed some snacks and went down to the labs to experiment on the Kievf.

Again.

And later as he experimented gleefully with lasers and bubbling poisons, the void inside him, the numbness that was quickly overtaking him, silently screamed.

* * *

**A few days after that **

Zim walked outside of his base, tired. It had been surprisingly simple. He had disabled GAR, stunned all the drones, knocked out the guards and here he was.

Outside. Alone.

Zim looked around. It _looked_ just like he remembered.. A dark world, having a small sun, that was cold. And filled with strange bluish-gray plant life.

He knew that he had come here, had conquered the Kievf by infiltrating them as one of their own, but if that was so..

Why didn't he remember anything?

His memories were hazy, jumping from him arriving to him conquering.

And being given medals. He remembered that part vividly. They were shiny.

He couldn't help but wonder, if nothing was wrong, if everything was as it truly was, why had the guards, the drones and GAR made such a mess over him going outside alone?

It was ridiculous. But it was there. That stubborn resistance to him going outside. Which meant, of course, that he HAD to go outside.

Duh.

Zim looked around. Kicked a rock or two. Things were the way they were supposed to be.

And of course they were. THIS WAS THE REALITY!

Him coming out here was just to show that he, ZIM, took orders from NO ONE!

Certainly not because he was becoming suspicious, that he, Zim was being lied to.

No, of course not.

Zim considered walking back into his base. Why bother? It wasn't like he'd be any less bored out here instead of in there.

He sat down and yawned.

How long had it been since he'd had a proper sleep cycle?

His PAK beeped a reply. Zim snorted and stretched his arms.

"Since those pathetic visual disturbances DISTRACT ZIM NO MATTER WHAT, ZIM will go into SLEEP MODE RIGHT NOW and just DARES those PATHETIC visual sleep disturbances to APPEAR!"

With that declaration, he found a comfortable spot beneath a tree and settled on the ground, closing his eyes.

That night he was not visited by any sleep disturbances.

Or was he?

"Zim! ZIM! I found you! Oh god, finally! I was so worried about you, Zim..."

* * *

**MWAHAHA! Evil cliffhanger! Sydia and I are writing chapter 5 now, I think, so we're already done with the Chapter 2. We'll post it in 2 weeks. Maybe. Depends on whether we get feedback. **

**If you like this, show us. Push the review button, please? It really means a lot to us. This is our first ZADR fic and we like to know how we're doing.**

**P.S. Why does F F . n e t mess up my spacing? It got rid of my tabs...**

**P.P.S. I probably should have said this first.. This is a follow-up maybe/what if story to Cupidty11's story Reckless Abandonment. It'll still make sense without it as all things will be eventually explained, but I suggest you go read her story. It's really good.**


	2. Beautiful Stranger

**Written by Sydia and Qrzi.**

**FIRST OFF- I LOVE YOU REVIEWING PEOPLE! SERIOUSLY! MEGA ULTRA COOKIES FOR YOU ALL! **

Below Are My Responses to those who left an Anon Review.

Pilpols- Thank you so much! I'll work harder with Sydia to continue it!

ravenult- I'm so happy you're so happy! I'm glad you think it's written well.

anon- I will write more! Actually, we're on chap 6 now. We just ran into a temp. writer's block, so we haven't budge much on it.

Lady Zahara- Your words made me so happy! I hope you like where we took this chapter!

S.M.C- I'm super super happy that you said we're writing Zim right. We wanted to make him softer in a way, and reinterpret him in consideration of events that have happened (which if you stick with us for some more chapters, you will find out). As for what's going on.. well that's a mystery. We wanted things to be unsure so the reader had to keep guessing. This chapter should help clear it up, though. Next chapter will help make things more clear as well. I'm really happy you gave me some really good feedback. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much your review inspired me! When I read that, I sat down and found the energy to fix Chapter 4's errors as well as typing out all of chapter 5.

**Disclaimer: IZ doesn't belong to us. Just the plot and any mistakes.**

**THE DESCRIPTION IS NOT INACCURATE! What happened is that, writing a description for this was hard. So I used a quote of Zim's that will show up later. Don't kill me for doing that because the quote is kind of a good representation of the bigger themes of this story.**

**And the plot's so convoluted I kind of can't think how to word it. Sorry.. **

**Things'll start moving in this chapter. Hope this answers some questions!**

* * *

_"Zim! ZIM! I found you! Oh god, finally! I was so worried about you, Zim..."_

_Zim looks up, head hazy, at a figure all in black, smiling at him happily._

_What-?_

_Suddenly he is off the ground and hugged hard by thin warm arms._

_"Zim..." breathes the figure in black. "I missed you so much. I'm so happy I finally found you, Zim. And you're safe! That's good... They didn't hurt you, did they? You seem fine. Have you been doing ok? Have they been feeding you well?" _

_The figure's words are lost on him as a familiar smell invades Zim's senses, the smell of honey. He wants to go soft and compliant in this creature's arms. This strange creature with a mock-lekku and burnt gold eyes, hidden behind glass frames, affects him. Zim relaxes for a moment and then stiffens._

_He is an IRKEN INVADER. AN ELITE IRKEN INVADER! AND INVADERS DO NOT RELAX. They do NOT SUBMIT! And, and, here Zim struggled to regain his thoughts, this is against ALL PAK instincts! The figure before him is obviously NOT Irken (an ALIEN!) and to top it all off, he didn't even know who this creature is. Zim wrenches himself from the figure in black's arms and lifts his head up imperiously._

_"Just who are you and what claim do you have to Zim?"_

_"What? Zim, you don't remember me?" Alarmed golden eyes glances over at Zim. "Did they do something to your PAK? I CAN'T BELIEVE THOSE GUYS! Look, Zim, they probably messed with the memory bank. Let me take a look.."_

_"NO!" Zim explodes, scraping the figure in front of him with his claws. How dare he ask something like that? Asking for something so private... HA! ZIM WOULD SHOW HIM!_

_"What? Zim? STOP! I don't want to hurt you!" The figure in black prostrate himself, lying flat on the ground, hands behind his head._

_"You only mean that you don't want ME to hurt YOU, you pathetic weakling!"_

_"What-? No! Look! I'm not hurting you? Ok? Not hurting you! Just stop! Please, Zim."_

_"That's right. Beg for mercy, alien!" Zim crows with his boots on top of the black-dressed creature's head._

_"Alien?" The creature sputters, indignant. "This is ridiculous. You're the alien."_

_"NOT TO ME! TO ME, YOU ARE THE ALIEN!" Zim nods to himself, pleased with this conclusion._

_"Zim..." the figure groans. "You honestly don't know who I am?"_

_There's a strange note of pleading there, of desperation and Zim glances down at the strange creature, dressed in a long black coat (trench coat, his brain whispers) with a spiky piece of hair up top. Zim wonders...why does this creature seem familiar?_

_"No. Am I supposed to?" Zim answers, staring down at the creature's strange golden eyes._

_"YES!" _

_"Oh." Zim fidgets uncomfortably. He doesn't like it when he doesn't know things others do. _

_Only one thing to do in a situation like this-_

_"LIES! YOU SPEAK LIES!"_

_"Really? You're going back to that, Zim? You have such a small vocabulary!"_

_"LIES!" Zim pauses for a moment, considering how he had just proven the figure in black's accusation right and burst out with a new word._

_"TREACHERY!"_

_"Wow, Zim," rasped the creature under Zim's boots sarcastically. "I am so proud of you. That brings the total to 78, doesn't it? Hey, maybe if I give you a thesaurus for Christmas, the total might even reach 100." The sarcasm dripping off the stranger's voice is blatantly obvious. It's practically dripping. And naturally, Zim being Zim, it passes right over his head._

_"NATURALLY, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF ZIM! YOU, PATHETIC WEAKLING, SHOULD WORSHIP ZIM! HE IS AN ELITE IRKEN INVADER! THE BEST OF THE BEST!" _

_The creature in black sighs. "Yes, yes. Zim is the best, the most supreme and the most awesome, I get it. Can you let me up now?"_

_Zim stares down at the creature. He doesn't seem to be much of a threat and Zim can always use his PAK legs to disable him later... He lifts his boots off of the stranger's head and steps back, wary. The creature looks familiar...but Zim ignores it, ignores the niggling feeling that that creature is the one from his visual disturbances because Zim CERTAINLY DOES NOT want to think what THAT would mean._

_"Thanks." The creature yawns and sits up. His eyes focus on Zim and soften "Zim... I love you."_

_WHAP! Zim smacks the creature to the ground, angry at his words, and the images it conjures up...Those words...it turns his squeedily-spooch to hear such a thing._

_"WHY ARE YOU HERE? AND HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ZIM! ZIM DOES NOT NEED GUSHY EMOTIONS LIKE LOVE! HE IS AN INVADER! INVADERS NEED-"_

_"No one. I get it." The black-suited creature is against a tree now, glaring at Zim._

_Good. Anger he could deal with, gushy soft emotions he could not._

_"What do you want with Zim?"_

_"I'm here to rescue you." Zim raises an eye, suspicious._

_"ZIM NEEDS NO RESCUING!"_

_"Ok. Fine." The figure winces at Zim's high-pitched voice and groans again. "So just to recap," he says in a 'I'm just humoring you voice' "You DON'T need rescuing and you DON'T know who I am."_

_"No, of course not. The mighty Zim cannot be bothered to remember ALL people lesser than himself. Why would Zim remember you?"_

_"Oh, I can think of a few good reasons. You and I were enemies."_

_"Zim has lots of enemies."_

_"Yeah. But you definitely would have remembered me."_

_"And why do you say that?"_

_"Because...well...it's a long story Zim. You and I, well, we have a long history together, I guess you could say." Zim looks at the stranger, who has a wistful expression on his face, gentle, even. Zim narrows his eyes angrily. He doesn't want to know what made him make such an expression. It annoys him and makes him want to smack the big-headed creature in black over and over until the angry expression in his eyes are back. He decides to change the subject._

_"Who are you, anyway, filthy creature in black?" _

_The figure in black looks down at himself and laughs. "Wow. Have you been calling me that in your head this whole time?"_

_"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" _

_"My name is Dib. It's nice to meet you, Zim. Again." The creature in black, no that's not right...the Dib holds out his hand._

_Zim glares at the offending appendage. What is he supposed to do with such a thing? He decides to take the safest course of action and claws at it._

_"HEY! Ow..Come on Zim. That actually hurt. I was just trying to get you to shake my hand. You know. It's this thing when one person holds the hand of another and they shake."_

_"Why?"_

_"Um... I don't know. Tradition, I guess."_

_Zim understands 'tradition'. It's what's kept his civilization grounded, given them rules and guidelines to follow. But that doesn't mean he has to follow the Dib's 'traditions'. After all, he is an Irken and Irkens are superior to all other species and especially to their traditions._

_"So, what species are you? You look like nothing I've seen before." Indeed. The Dib is big headed with long limbs and a mock-lekku that sits atop his head. Zim wonders if all of Dib's race are like the Dib._

_"Human."_

_"Has the Irken Empire conquered your puny planet yet?"_

_The big-headed Dib looks away from Zim and coughs. "...Kind of."_

_"What do you mean 'kind of'? Either a planet is or it is not!" Zim yells at the top of his voice angry. Irkens were inferior to no one, therefore they definitely would have overcame the big-headed Dib's species!_

_"Yeah..about that...you see the thing is...you and I, Zim, we-" The big headed creature stands up and walks over to Zim slowly only to be interrupted by a siren._

_"ALERT! ALIEN FUGITIVE IS LOOSE AND HAS LANDED HERE! APPREHEND HIM AND DELIVER HIM TO THE MASSIVE IMMEDIATELY! ALERT!"_

_Countless Spittle runners, Voot cruisers and other ships quickly fill the sky, search beams on. The sirens blare and Zim meets the Dib's eyes, shocked speechless, realizing what's happening, and then opens his mouth wide, ready to scream to the others about the location of the fugitive._

_The Dib grabs Zim and covers his mouth, pulling them both back into the shade of the trees._

_"Shhh! Please! Just stay quiet for a bit! I'll explain it all later, I promise, just please-"_

_But then Zim bites him hard and the Dib drops him, cursing and clutching his hand. Zim's zipper teeth drip with red liquid and moments later Zim screams "IT BURNS!" as the red liquid does indeed burn, searing his green flesh._

_"No, Zim, please! Would you just-" _

_But it's too late. The Dib's pleading is pointless as the Irken Military have already turned their search beams toward the duo, and is close by. Very close._

_"THE ALIEN HUMAN FUGITIVE IS HERE!" Zim waves his arms, stretching as high as he can. _

_"OVER HERE!"_

_The Dib stares at Zim, betrayal written clearly all over his face. Zim shrugs and grins at him malevolently. What did the big-headed Dib expect? He was ZIM and he was LOYAL to his species, and to his empire._

_The Dib makes as if to run into the deep underbrush and then falters, looking at Zim._

_"What are you doing, stink-face?" It's strange how easily insults rolled off his tongue, but then again, Zim's never had an issue insulting people. But what he really wants to know is why the idiotic alien is just standing there, looking lost. If Zim were in his place, he'd already have knocked out himself and taken off running. _

_The Dib comes back and stands on the ground calmly next to Zim. "It's pointless to run if you're not going to come with me." _

_"What?"_

_"I only came here for you, Zim."_

_"WHY?" _

_"I'll explain later. I promise. One day I'll explain and you'll remember who I am."_

_Zim opens his mouth to retort angrily at this ridiculous dookie when the Spittle runners and Voot cruisers land, with hundreds of armed guards exiting and surrounding Zim and Dib._

_"Zim..I love you," says the big-headed HYUMAN as he stands there calmly._

_"WHAT?" Zim shrieks in outrage. Again with this 'lurve' nonsense. Is the Dib trying to get Zim ridiculed? Zim doesn't even know the Dib!_

_"I just want you to know. Because even though it might take me more time to get back to you this time, I will find you again. No matter what." Zim looks at him shocked and the big headed Dib, dressed all in black, continues "I mean it, Zim. No matter what they do, I will find you and then we can be together again. I promise-"_

_Suddenly the Dib's speech cuts off as a glowing square of foil branded with the Irken symbol shoots out from nowhere and covers his mouth followed by glowing pink and purple rope that binds him and brings him to his knees._

_"Ah, isn't that sweet, Purple? Just makes me want to throw-up!" a new voice chimes in, laughing snidely._

_Zim looks up. Two figures, red and purple, are approaching them. To Zim, they appear like they are the Tallests, the homage the Irkens are paying them certainly make it seem so but that doesn't make any sense, because Miyuki and Spork are the Tallest. Not these Irkens._

_"What happened to Tallest Miyuki and Spork? THEY are the tallest, not you two," asks Zim. "Who are you?"_

_"Who are you?" The red one laughs. "Isn't he sweet? I can't believe it."_

_"What I can't believe," said the purple one laughing, "Is that he doesn't remember what he did to Tallest Miyuki and Spork!_

_"WHAT DOOKIE ARE YOU SPEAKING OF? I HAVE ONLY SERVED THEM LOYALLY! I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING MORE THAN THAT!"_

_"Right. Of course." The red Irken looks at the purple one and laughs. "In any case, I believe it is time for us to collect our prisoner and leave. Goodbye...Elite Irken Invader Zim" he says sneering._

_"No." Everyone stares at Zim, surprised. Zim opens his mouth and then closes it, squaring his shoulders. He can't explain it..but he knows this isn't right, that what's happening is wrong and that the human is-_

_"Are you being insubordinate, Zim?" The Irkens draw closer and closer, lasers at the ready._

_"ZIM IS NOT INSUBMARINE!" He spits out, furious. How dare they suggest such a thing? "ZIM IS LOYAL! LOYAL, I TELL YOU!"_

_"Then why, Z-I-M," says the red one, drawing out his name, "Why won't you give up the prisoner?"_

_"The prisoner belongs to ZIM!" Zim screams, head high. And he knows it, knows that it is the truth from the most inner workings of his PAK. Indisputable. The human, the strange Dib-creature is his. _

_"You-" _

_Zim cuts him off hurriedly, screeching franticly._

_"HE IS MINE! HE landed on MY planet, so he is mine! LEAVE ME MY DIB!" _

_He notices the Irken soldiers standing around shuffling their feet anxiously, looking around for guidance. Zim shoots them eyes of burning fury, clearly communicating his point. _

_"MINE!" Murmurs run through the crowd as Zim stands in front of the Dib-creature, protectively, PAK legs out and ready for battle. The soldiers around him back up hurriedly, fear in their eyes._

_"Yeah, but yooooouuuu, Zim, serve the Empire. And therefore your planet is the Empire's." says the purple one with a ring of sugar around his mouth, trying to take control "So, just give us back the prisoner."_

_"NEVER!" _

_"You dare-"_

_"THE DIB IS MINE!" _

_"I see." The red one looks at the purple one and laughs. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. Again!" He gives Zim a wicked grin. "Sweet dreams, Zim. Too bad you won't remember us in the morning~!"_

_Zim raises an eye and opens his mouth to demand explanation and stops suddenly as the air fills with the scent of doughnut sugar and he falls ever so slowly into darkness..._

_(*)_

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**Apologies for the short chapter, but we're trying to parcel this story out in small amounts so we have time to edit.**

**And once again, SUPER DUPER THANKS TO THE REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!**

**P.S. We love feedback! And we'll update faster if we can see people like it.**


	3. Puppet Master

**Written by Qrzi and Sydia, inspired by cupidity11's ficlet- Reckless Abandonment, **

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. And neither does Sydia. We don't possess nearly enough craziness.**

I LOVE YOU PEOPLE WHO REVIEW SOOOO MUCH! YOU ALL GET COOKIES AND BROWNIES!

Thanks to: Invader Jor, Lolibeagle, Darkinvader897 for putting this story on story alert!

Responses to review are below:

akane: I'm really happy you love the storyline, Sydia and I have to put together! (But neither of us are dudes. ;P)

lolibeagle: HERE'S YOUR COOKIES! It is sad that Zim's got amnesia but it had to happen. And more's going on with the Tallest than you think.

ravenult: Yay! (I love repeat reviewers) I'm glad you like the drama because more's on its way

Lady Zahara: ? I only know about Will Smith from MIB.

Vioxxin: Yes, it's on dA under another name. Sydia's posting it on her account over there. No, it's not discontinued, I just got really grumpy when I was posting the chapter over there. We're continuing this, no worries. I'm really happy you think that Zim's IC. And yes, Dib is a bit different from the canon, but it's because of all the junk that happened to him.

Pilpols: Yep. Thanks for reviewing!

**Wah.. This is such a short chapter. But it was needed, as a filler and to give you guys a look into what's going on.**

**Sorry. I'll post the next one tomorrow, maybe, to make up for it. If enough people ask, probably. (IT'S A DIB POV CHAPTER!)**

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The light hit his eyes and Zim yawned, opening his eyes to his room in the base. Everything was normal. Perfectly and completely normal.

That thought made Zim blink. WHY WOULDN'T THINGS BE NORMAL? They had always been this way. Hadn't they? He was ZIM, the ALMIGHTY ZIM! The ALMIGHTY ZIM who served his Tallest loyally, and had been awarded medal upon medal from Tallest Miyuki and Spork.

He was the one who had conquered the Kievf, a orange-haired and clammy skinned people who lived on a dark planet with a small sun, certainly not a failure who hadn't been able to conquer a planet called Earth.

As a matter of fact, Zim had never been on a planet called Earth. He couldn't have been because it didn't exist. And he had almost certainly never met a big-headed stink creature who lived on the disgusting ball of dirt that was Earth. Because the stink creature didn't exist either.

And Zim _wasn't_ a defect. Or made fun of by other Irkens. In truth, Zim was MAGNIFICENT and full of AWESOMNESS! He had his own base and was surrounded by mounds of Irken drones who obeyed his every whim. He also had a SIR unit, GAR with red eyes for company. And his SIR unit had never had a mouth, teal eyes or disobeyed his orders. Or ate waffles.

And that was that.

Zim blinked as his PAK supplied him with this information and then nodded to himself.

That made sense. HE WAS ZIM! He was TOO amazing not to conquer!

He was an ELITE IRKEN INVADER!

And that's all there was to it.

(*)qpqpqpqpqqppqpqqpqpqppqpq(*)

High above Zim, up above the planet's atmosphere, alone in their private quarters, two figures, one in red and the other in purple, laugh as they watch a small video screen transmitting live feed from the planet below.

"You know, I find this too funny," one says to the other.

"Which part?"

"How we keep erasing his memory and he falls for it every single time! Honestly! Zim'd never be an Elite Irken Invader!"

"Yeah. Good thing he's so stupid, it takes him forever to figure it out!"

"Yup. What's that, the 6th time we've erased his memory?"

"I think so. I can't believe the human managed to find him."

"Me neither. But at least we caught the human. How long have we been chasing him?"

"Too long. Since we got him, we should do something horrible to him."

"Hmm. Maybe. Let's run horrible experiments on him and make him die nice and slow."

"Great idea Red! Hey, hey, I got a better one, let's make ZIM DO IT!"

"ARE YOU DEFECTIVE OR SOMETHING? That'll never work. You saw how Zim reacted when he saw him. And we made sure to do a thorough PAK erase this time. On top of that, Zim always finds a way to screw things up. Knowing him, he'll probably blow up the human and the rest of us with him."

"Oh, yeah. It'd be fun though. We could charge so much on ticket sales! Can you imagine how much people would pay to see those two in pain? Zim'd cut up that spiky human and kill him, and then we'd make him remember and Zim'd kill himself! It's perfect!"

"Hmm. That's not a bad idea. You know..why not?"

"You just said my idea was stupid!"

"It was."

"But-"

"That, Purple, was BEFORE I thought about all the money we could make out of it."

"YOU thought about it? I'm the one who-"

"And we can stick Zim on a faraway planet, one where he won't blow up anything important. And LASERS! Yes, the people LOVE lasers-"

"THAT WAS MY IDEA!"

"But you hate lasers."

"No, not the lasers, the part about Zim torturing and killing the human! You're always stealing my ideas, Red!"

"No, I didn't steal your idea about the smoke machine!"

"ENOUGH!" The lights flicker and the two Irkens turn around, surprised, tracing the shout to a figure in the doorway. A shadow falls onto the metal floor, a tall one, with an imperious head held high.

"HAVEN'T I MADE IT CLEAR THAT YOU LOT ARE TO STOP FIGHTING!" A laser gun fires and knocks Red to the floor. Purple stands there, quivering.

"Well...it was his fault!" Purple whines, more than happy to shove the blame onto Red. "He stole my-"

"I DON'T BLOODY CARE WHOSE IDEA IT WAS! YOU LOT ARE TO STOP FIGHTING OR YOU'LL BOTH BE SHOVED OUT THE BLOODY AIRLOCK! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR, LADS?"

Red stands up hurriedly and ducks behind Purple, using him as a meat shield.

"Yes, Almightiest Tallest," the both of them chorus.

"GOOD!" The figure moves to the viewing screen and pauses. "Have Zim," the figure says with distaste, "and Dib been taken care of?"

The red and purple Irkens both nod.

"I like your idea Red," says the figure contemplatively. "Let's do it. They've both been a thorn in the Empire's side for far too long! We should broadcast this to the Resistance! Zim tortures and kills Dib and then kills self. MWAHAHA! IT'S BLOODY BRILLIANT! Can you imagine how DEMORALIZING that would be to the Resistance? Their precious leaders killed... How sad for them.. THE RESISTANCE WON'T STAND A CHANCE WITHOUT THEM!"

"But, it WAS my idea," Purple whines.

"I knooooow that! But YOU are an INFURIATINGLY EXASPERATING DIM-WITTED FOOL. And since Red is just a tiny bit less STUPID than you, HE gets the credit." The figure sighs exasperated, as if it was obvious.

Red and Purple begin fighting between themselves once more over this last comment as the figure steps away from the viewing screen and walks toward the door. "Get the ships ready, boys," orders the figure, "there's work to be done."

The figures stands and strides out of the room, head still held high. Red waits for the doors to close and the footsteps to become fainter, holding his breath.

There...there...NOW! He stands up from behind Purple, brushing himself off.

Glancing around the room, Red punches a button on his suit and visibly relaxes, sitting down on a chair.

"This is ridiculous," he says in an annoyed tone. "We can't even talk freely in our room anymore! I have to keep jamming all the eavesdropping devices leaking our conversations back to h-"

"You used me as a shield!"

"That's not important, Purple."

"Not important? YOU USED ME AS A SHIELD!"

"I had to, Purple. I'M MUCH MORE important than you are. If I die, the Irken Empire'll forever be under the grip of that-"

"You still used me as a shield, Red! Didn't you say we were in this together?"

Purple looks away from Red, pouting. Red sighs. Things were so much easier when Red didn't need Purple so much. But it was a situation that couldn't be helped, thanks to that insufferable-

"I haven't gotten to sit on a comfy cushion all day! And I've had to work! With no snacks! NO SNACKS, RED! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW-"

Red cuts him off quickly, knowing that if he didn't get Purple to shut up now, he'd go on for hours. Sigh. Guess he had to use _that. _

"...I've gotten a shipment in of those snacks you like so much. Stop blabbering or I'll eat it all. By _myself_."

"What-? But? That's so cruel, Red! You know I haven't had any snacks for the past year!"

"Shut up, then, you idiot! We need to stick to the plan. We need that insufferable upstart to lower their guard around us so we can take back our power instead of being made puppets of that-"

"You're talking too much. Can I have my snacks now?"

"Don't you care about any of this? Look. If we don't find a way out from HER thumb, we'll never get any snacks!"

"What? NOOO! I like my snacks, Red."

"I like snacks too, you know! And you haven't been helping me at all with the plan! If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you _liked _being forced to work and never getting comfy cushions or snacks."

"But I hate it!"

"I know. I hate it too. But we need that upstart to trust us and stop watching us so closely! Once that happens, we can seize back power and make our case to the Control Brains. That's why we have to pretend to be cowering idiots who blindly follow orders and never ever speak a word against their leader. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. In that case, you can help me by-"

"Can I have my snacks now?"

"NO!"

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**I like to think we did well on this last part. Writing as Purple and responding to Sydia writing as Red got kind of hard.**

**We imagined that Purple'd be more impulsive and child-like while Red would attempt to take control and scheme. **

**As for what's happening exactly.. Guess you'll have to stick around a bit to figure it out! **

**For what it counts, I promise the 'mysterious figure' or 'upstart' as Red calls that person is not an OC as the Sydia and I personally hate them to the core. All the characters in this fic will be originals. **

**Can any of you guess who this character is? If you do, I'll give you a prize..** **I'll post the next next chapter early (the repetition was on purpose), dedicate it to you and.. well. **

**We'll make Nemo write a song for you. Yep. That'll do it. She's a friend of mine and Sydia's who writes and posts songs on dA.**

**The account name used there is ObsydianIce. **


	4. Jailbreak

_Skip past this bolded junk if you don't care about us replying to our extremely loved reviewers or telling you little things. _**  
**

**I have been forbidden to post chapters of this story on dA. Sydia said she'll do it since I tend to rant at people.. *sigh***

**HEY GUESS WHAT? WE LOVE reviewers! Really! YOU GET COOKIES! And.. SPRINKLE COVERED ICE CREAM CONES! AND FUNNEL CAKES! **

**Our thanks go out to: Shadow Zee, Awsome 3709, Emoluv365, ngrey651!**

**And here's our responses to the reviewers!**

**emolove365- Thanks! We're so happy you think it's amazing! (P.S. We're not that fond of her either, LOL)**

**Akane- It's great you liked the last chapter! And you might just hate us after this one, since you already feel bad for Zim and Dib. *sweat***

**Lolibeagle- Hurray! Interesting guess.. She does play a part in the chapter. Yeah.. Poor Zim. It only gets worse**

**EmoGummyBearZaDrArmy- Yeah.. We tried to stick in the english accent. **

**ravenult- WOOH! REPEAT REVIEWER! We totally love you in a non creepy way. ;) I'm glad you think that we wrote Red and Purple right!**

**Awsome3709- We do plan to continue! Thanks so much for reviewing! (And no worries, this fic is MEGA long. We're writing chapter 8 right now, actually)**

**Invader Jor- That's all right! We're just happy you reviewed (and that you love this story) Please see note below.**

**BellatriD- Thank you, thank you, thank you! We're so happy you think that this fic is original! (we really did try)**

**IDK- Yeah.. You were right but.. well..thanks for reviewing and all but..Um.. See note below.**

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**Thanks for all the lovely guesses and reviews! Many of you were right but the first won the prize!-INVADER JOR!**

**Ok.. So technically a anon reviewer beat you to it, **_Invader Jor_**, but because these kind of things are always hard with anon reviewers, you win.**

**(Sorry anon reviewer. You were right, but it's hard to make sure who you are, so it had to go to someone else)**

**Invader Jor, please send a small sentence (10 words or less) that you want Nemo to make a song about. Kindly don't make it something silly or ZADR/yaoi/fan thing related as she'll refuse and drown us in emo hate. **

**Good? Ok then... Here's DIBBY!**

* * *

This sucked. I kicked the wall in front of me, frowning. How had things gone so wrong? Yes, ok. I WAS an idiot. Going in alone, what was I thinking? I should have known it'd be a trap. I stared off into space. My thoughts drifted...what the Resistance would do? By this point, they probably knew I had been captured...Gaz would definitely not be happy. She'd be gritting her teeth and threatening to kill me right about now...and what did the Tallest have planned? Or, to phrase it better, what did SHE have planned? Red and Purple were just puppets, pawns really, serving a higher power- Tak. She probably had something nasty planned..Lord knows she hated me. No telling what she would do...and what happened to Zim? What did they DO to him? God. HE DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER ME!

But even without the majority of his memory, he was still the same as always. I smiled bitterly, remembering our earlier confrontation. He was still arrogant. Still annoying. Still screeching. And still possessive. I leaned back against the wall, tilting my head back. I loved him so much, it hurt sometimes. It had shocked me, Zim's sudden possessiveness after he had just outed me to the Armada. Smiling, I thought of him and pictured his image, PAK legs out and ready, standing between me and the Armada's soldiers. I had been too shocked to do anything at the time. But then, my mouth twisted, remembering how minutes later Zim had been gassed and fell to the ground unconscious while Red barked orders for another PAK wipe. I managed to break out of my bonds soon after, but by that time, they already had Zim hostage with a laser gun aimed at his PAK. And I couldn't do a thing. I ended up surrendering and the soldiers took my glasses, knocking me out soon after with a blow to the head. I had no idea how long I'd been in here.

I sighed. What was I going to do? I was trapped inside a FREAKING METAL BOX! The Irken soldiers had taken my weapons AND my glasses and were probably transporting me to a prison to be interrogated and tortured. Great. Just great. I could probably break out, though. There were always weak spots, somewhere. I began to feel the walls, stuck on my knees due to the smallness of the stupid BOX! (I definitely wasn't in a cage, it didn't HAVE bars, only walls.) I clenched my fists, thinking. Tak. She was the brains behind this whole thing. If it wasn't for her- I paused here, sighing. If it wasn't for her, Earth wouldn't have been taken over. If it wasn't for her, this whole mess, Zim, my dad- I slammed the floor angrily. Now wasn't the time for this.

Exhaling, I cleared my head. Plan. Come on, think of a plan, Dib! First, I had to- Find a way out! Yeah, ok. Next steps- get a weapon. Fight some soldiers. Steal a ship. Find Zim. Rescue Zim. Go back to the Resistance..and get beat up by my sister. I winced at that last one. It was unfortunately true, though. Assuming I somehow got back to the Resistance with Zim in one piece, my sister would beat me up for getting caught and for trying this rescue mission in the first place. I laughed grimly. If I didn't make it out alive, Gaz'd probably find some way to resurrect me and _then_ beat me up.

But then, my box began to slide suddenly, moving with me in it to bang against the side of the ship. I groaned. Couldn't they have at least strapped the dang thing down? I banged on the walls of the box. Nothing. Man, what I'd do to see what was going on...I was on the Massive, right? Anything that could shake the Massive had to be BIG. Unless the guards were just having fun, playing kick the prisoner's box. I strained to hear, putting my ear up to the walls. Was that a grunt? Ugh.. If I could just hear...

BANG!

Ok..What the-

BANG!

My box quivered violently and then s h a t t e r e d. I blinked as light suddenly flooded me. Rubbing my eyes, I stood up cautiously. No telling what had happened. Were Tak, Red and Purple breaking me out to torture me? Or had help arrived?

"Here." I squinted, my vision still hazy and trying to adjust to the light. "You had these last time. You need them, right? Right, big-headed creature?"

A green blur moved as my glasses were thrust awkwardly onto my face, nearly poking me in the eyes. I readjusted them. Man, was I in for a surprise. Irken soldiers littered the floor and one of them stood above, on high, his boot viciously kicking them in the head.

"Zim?" He stared at me imperiously.

"Who else?"

"Well, I mean.." Flustered, I stood there awkwardly. Zim was here? How? Why? Did he remember? Had he escaped from the Irken soldiers?

"We need to get going, STOOPID alien. It won't be long before they figure out something's wrong and sound the alarms."

"Right." He handed me a blaster and I took it, following him out of the room and down a hallway. I took note of where we went, thinking. How had Zim remembered me? Was it a trap? A cruel trick like this was just the type of thing Tak liked to pull. I had to consider it. And if this was a trap... was Zim hand delivering me to the Tallest? If so, why had he blasted those soldiers? It didn't make sense.

I shook my head back and forth. Worry later. Focus on getting out now. Alarms sounded as I blasted the Irken soldiers out of my way and ran. Hallway after hallway. More and more Irken soldiers came towards us, PAK legs ready for fighting. Zim sneered and blasted them into the wall. I followed behind. But still more Irken soldiers followed. Endless running. Soon I was drenched in sweat.

"There's ships in the hangar." Zim yelled over to me, in the midst of the fighting. "If we want to get off this ship alive, stink-worm, you and I need to move!"

I nodded and mowed down the Irken soldiers chasing us as Zim took care of those in front, clearing a path. Together, we dashed to the hangar and grabbed a ship. Zim was fast at work, claws quickly tapping the keyboard. Soon our ship was rising. But there was one problem.

"Zim..The hangar doors are still closed!"

"So? We'll blast our way out. Foolish big-headed creature."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"Do you want to get out, or not? The Massive is much weaker when attacking inside out. We'll be fine, STOOPID BIG-HEAD!"

I opened my mouth, only to close it as Zim thrust the accelerator and blasted a hole in the Massive's walls with the ship's lasers. And then we were out. I sagged against the ship's walls, shocked. Wow. Had breaking out of the Massive really been so easy? Just what was going on here?

Our ship zipped quickly, dodging the little ships around us. Zim cackled gleefully in the background and I couldn't help but smile as the ships around us exploded like fireworks.

Just like old times.

I turned back towards Zim- only to find him eyeing me threateningly with his PAK legs raised and holding both our laser blasters.

"Zim?" My voice quavered, as I realized I had no weapon and no way to defend myself without hurting Zim. I backed up as Zim threw the laser blasters behind him and drew out a new weapon, aiming at my heart. In a matter of moments, I was cornered against the wall.

"And now," Zim said, malice in his eyes and a cruel grin to match, "You die." I gripped the wall behind me. Wha-? Why? He tightened his grip on the trigger, coming closer. "Goodbye _Dib_." A loud blast sounded followed by a crushing pain and then everything faded to black.

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***Hiding in trash can***

**Qrzi: Do you think we've out run those angry readers yet?**

**Sydia: Nope. RUUUUUNNNNNN!**

**We are officially evil. Please don't kill us. Even if we're evil.**

**We know.. The last chapter was filler and this one was a short chapter and a CLIFFY! Yep, yep, we're evil little people. VENGEANCE OF THE SHORT!**

**No, I'm kidding. Really. If we wanted to be SUPER evil, we'd just stop posting right here. **

**Anyway, after a scientific study, we have found out that the update time corresponds with people reviewing.. Strangeness..**

**Hope you like our twists! Because there's more to come... MWAHAHAHAHHA!**

**I definitely had too much sugar at the carnival today. Ah well.**

**BYE! **

**Qrzi.**


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